Warning: don't trust a ruler from the dollar store

I spent 4 hours last Saturday trying to figure out why my text block was off by almost 3mm and it turned out my cheap plastic ruler was just cut wrong. Has anyone else had a tool totally throw off their measurements like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

theathomas23d ago

But see, I actually have a different take on this. I get where @jesse_west is coming from, but I've had way more luck with cheap plastic rulers than expensive metal ones if I'm being honest. The metal ones from hardware stores can bend or get dented if you drop them on concrete (and I've definitely done that more times than I'd like to admit). Plastic might be cut wrong sometimes, but at least it stays flat unless you really try to break it. And honestly, for like 50 cents you can buy three of them and just check them against each other to find the good one. I feel like the real problem isn't the tool being cheap, it's that nobody bothers to test their tools before using them on something important. Like yeah, a dollar store ruler might have a bad batch, but so do 20 dollar ones from the art supply store.

jesse_west23d agoProlific Poster

The weird thing is, once you notice one bad measuring tool you start realizing how many everyday objects are just slightly off. Like those paper tape measures you get from furniture stores or the free ones at hardware stores. I've got a couple metal rulers that are actually pretty solid from the hardware store, but the plastic ones are always hit or miss. The worst part is it's not obvious until you've already messed something up and have to figure out why. It's like there's no real standard for these cheap tools and we're all just supposed to hope they work.

troy_adams23d ago

Is it really that big of a deal though? I've been using dollar store rulers my whole life and never had a project fall apart because of one.